A moment later Judas Iscariot slipped quietly out of the door. The other disciples did not know where he had gone.
Jesus spoke again: "I wanted so much to eat the Passover feast with you this year, before I suffer. But I shall not eat it again with you until a better day, when we shall all be together once more."
He took up a piece of bread, and said a prayer of thanks to God. Then he broke the bread, and passed the pieces among the disciples—only eleven of them now. He said words that they did not understand.
"Take and eat this. This is my body."
He took a cup of wine, and once more he gave thanks. Then he passed the cup among the disciples, saying:
"Drink—all of you—drink of this wine. It is my blood, which I am going to shed so that the sins of many people may be forgiven. And in the days to come, do this same thing often, always remembering me."
Then they sang a hymn together and walked out into the night air and went up the Mount of Olives.
As they walked, Jesus said to the disciples:
"You will all desert me tonight. For it is written in the Scriptures that when something happens to the shepherd the sheep will go away in all directions. However, I shall meet you again."
Peter spoke up, and said bravely,